Dilemma: Kill birds to save fish?

By Wire Report
The Spokesman Review

Dredging decades ago to aid Columbia River shippers also helped seabirds known as double-crested cormorants by creating a flat, sandy island ideal for nesting and feeding on young salmon and steelhead headed for the Pacific Ocean.

Now, the population of the cormorants on East Sand Island has burgeoned from about 100 breeding pairs to 14,900 of the pairs, and a federal agency wants to have thousands of the seabirds shot to protect the fish, including some that are protected and deemed endangered.

At a recent open house held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the proposal, Tommy Huntington, of Cannon Beach, acknowledged that anglers feel strongly about fish runs being depleted but expressed consternation at the plan to shoot the birds. Read more